zapgun.about

zapgun was started in 1997 when I (Rett Crocker) left Intellimedia. Intellimedia developed games, instructional software and Internet technologies. A few months later, Kerry Crocker, also left Intellimedia and we began working on projects together. I handled the technical bits (and bytes) and Kerry kept the UI design Human-centric. We worked on many exciting projects over the next four years.

One of our first ventures was Virtual University International. This was intended to be the very first, fully accredited, online university. There were quite a few heavy hitters involved in the project and while it had much promise, it eventually folded due to lack of funding. Only now, eight years later, are the various online university players implementing elements which were integral to our original design.

Another major project we were heavily involved in was Kit & Kaboodle. This Elementary-level educational curriculum was funded by the NSF and NASA. It's science-oriented content was intended to be a textbook replacement. The pilot project reached into thousands of schools and was regarded as a success. Alas, it also died because there wasn't enough funding.

In 2001, we moved to North Carolina and I joined forces with Steve Bullock and Adveractive. We built a great team of committed developers and created a new game site to house our ever-growing content offering: Playtonium, the element of fun. We eventually moved into creating consumer-downloadable games like Wordsense Challenge, Atomic Pongling and the Playtonium Jigsaws.

Nowadays, I develop content with Adveractive/Playtonium, other game companies like Boxerjam and I create my own games. There are several in development now. More on that, soon. 8)

If you're interested in a more complete bio for me (Rett Crocker), check out my resume/CV. If you'd like to work with me, please contact me.

My wife Kerry transitioned her skills in human interface design into a career as a professional organizer. Her company is Space Cadette. I'm a bit biased (lots of independant verification, though), but she is quite incredible.